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1962: Massillon 0, Alliance 46

September 28, 1962July 15, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Crushed 46-0 By Superb Alliance
Bengals Suffer Worst Defeat In 31 Years As Aviators Dazzle Fans

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

The stony post-game silence in the Massillon Tigers’ dressing room Friday night was a reminder of the awful nightmare that had occurred on the Hartshorn stadium turf the past 48 minutes before 9,344 dripping fans.

The Washington high school football team had received its worst beating in 31 years. Alliance high school had pounded the Bengals 46-0 on its home field.

Not since Steubenville had shellacked WHS 68-0 in 1931 had the Tigers absorbed a worse beating. Dayton Steele beat the Orange and Black by an identical score in 1921. A 59-0 loss to Barberton in 1912 made Friday’s defeat the third worst in the Bengals history.

It was Leo Strang’s worst setback in 13 seasons of coaching.
* * *
NOT SINCE 1932 when one of Paul Brown’s teams, quarterbacked by Alliance Coach Mel Knowlton, was beaten 30-6 by the Aviators and in 1921 when Dave Stewart was shut out 25-0, had Alliance beaten the Tigers so badly. The last whitewash by Alliance was over Chuck Mather 14-0 in 1948. The last defeat by the Aviators was 9-7 in 1954 over Tom Harp, both losses administered by Knowlton.

The Orange and Black’s season record now stands at 2-2. The last time a Massillon team lost two games in a season was when Lee Tressel was coach in 1956. The last shutout was 6-0 by Warren in 1958, Strang’s first year.

The faces of the Bengal coaches and players were grim after Friday’s game, grim with the determination to prove to the fans of Massillon that the Tigers will come back, that the old Tiger spirit is still there.

With the loss went any hope the Bengals’ might have had of going on to win their fourth straight state championship. But the victory could be the incentive to spur Alliance on to its first since 1958.
* * *
HOW DO YOU explain a night like this? What happened? Both Strang and Knowlton said it was a game when everything went right for Alliance and all wrong for Massillon. As both coaches said, Massillon would start its defense one way, and Alliance would be going the other.

To say that things went wrong for WHS is a gross understatement. There was almost no blocking, no tackling. Pass defenders couldn’t stay with receivers. The latter ailment can be partially blamed on the rainy weather which turned the field into a muddy mess. With the Tigers playing all men close to the line in order to try to stop Alliance sweeps early, Bengal defenders were unable to get their footing well enough to drop back quickly.

On the other hand, the Aviators came through with a terrific line job. Alliance Linemen continually got the jump on the Tigers, both offensively and defensively. As a result Aviator backs found plenty of holes while Tiger runners were hit before they got to the line.

Knowlton got tremendous running from Chet Bryant, Win Young and Larry Grimes. Quarterback Doug Wade did some tremendous passing. Ends Tom Greene, Captain Tom Barany and Henry (Skip) Waters did some fine receiving.

When it was all over, Bryant had scored three touchdowns and a conversion. Grimes’ two touchdowns, Young one, Waters one and a conversion. It was the biggest victory for Knowlton in his 17 seasons at Alliance, he said.

Statistics showed that Alliance had 18 first downs. The Aviators picked up 32 net yards on the ground and 125 in the air, losing only three yards all night. Total yardage was 447.

While he was happy with his whole team’s performance, Knowlton was especially pleased with the performance of Waters, “the best player I’ve ever had,” and Guard Dave Cade, one of “the best blockers and tacklers of the night.”
* * *
“WE WERE REALLY prepared for this one,” said Knowlton, “as well as we’ve ever been for any game since I’ve been here. This was just the reverse of last year. That one really stuck in my craw.” He added, “I got a real effort from varsity, reserves and coaches.”

When asked if he had been saving Wade for Massillon since the junior signal-caller hadn’t thrown much in Alliance’s previous three games, Knowlton replied an emphatic no. He was happy that Wade had come along well to open up the ground game for his “great
one-two attack of Bryant and Grimes.

“Knowlton cautioned the Massillon fans not to get on Strang or the players much. A game like this can happen to the best of them, and Massillon isn’t that bad,” he said.

For Strang’s part, he said, “Mel has done a heck of a job of coaching with his boys. They were the best team in the state out there tonight. We were the worst.”

Both of Massillon’s ends, Will Perry and Bob McAllister, were lost due to injuries in the first quarter. With the Bengals already crippled by other injuries and forced to use a number of younger players it hurt. “The younger players couldn’t adjust to their gaming defense,” Strang said.
* * *
PERHAPS an omen of things to come was Young almost taking the opening kickoff back 94 yards for a touchdown. He slipped on the wet turf at the Alliance 35-yard line and went down, however.

Alliance got nowhere on its first series, the only time it failed to score when given the opportunity all night, except on the final few plays of the game. The Aviators punted to Massillon.

The Orange and Black got its only good drive of the night going. In 10 plays with four first downs, the Tigers had reached the Alliance 30. Then a mix-up in the backfield cause a fumble, Waters recovered, and the Tigers never threatened again.

They had two other brief sorties into Aviator territory. One came late in the second quarter when Massillon got to its opponents’ 46-yard line. The other trip stopped at Alliance 44 in the final canto.

After Waters had recovered the first period fumble, the Aviators drove 74 yards in 14 plays with four first downs for their initial score. The Orange and Black had Alliance stopped on its 37 with a fourth down but jumped offside. The penalty gave the Aviators a first down and continued the drive.
* * *
GRIMES and Bryant picked up most of the yardage, as they did all night, first hitting one side of the line then the other, and then around end. But it was Young, the junior right halfback, who finally went over around end with 10:10 left in the first quarter. Grimes missed the conversion run.

He had a 20-yard touchdown romp called back during this drive due to an illegal motion penalty.

Alliance forced Massillon to punt again shortly after the second period had begun. Taking over on their 11-yard line the Aviators marched the distance in 10 plays with three first downs.

Grimes went around end at 4:53. He missed the conversion try. Wade passed to Waters for the conversion after a motion penalty had nullified Grimes’ run.

Grimes scored the next TD at 2:01. Massillon gambled on a fourth-and-four situation from its 42 but didn’t make it. Alliance got the ball on the 35. Two plays later Grimes went off guard from the 16 for the tally.
* * *
THE AVIATORS went 86 yards on their next drive after a Bengal punt in the middle of the third stanza. On the third play after Alliance had taken over, Bryant went off tackle for 75 yards with Waters coming over from the opposite side of the field to lead the blocking. The time was 6:21. Wade’s pass to Bryant for the conversion was incomplete.

Near the end of the period Alliance took over after another Orange and Black punt. The drive was 39 yards in nine plays and one first down. Wade tossed to Waters with the senior end making a tumbling catch near the end line at 11:53 of the last quarter. Young scored the conversion on a pitchout to the right. But Alliance was called for illegal procedure. A pass on the second try was incomplete.

Bryant had an 18-yard score called back during this drive because his mates were offside.

Seconds later Waters intercepted a Bengal pass on the Massillon 40 and raced to the 20. Bryant went off guard at 11:02 for the tally. He missed on the conversion run.

Alliance’s last score was a two-play job after another Massillon punt. On the second play after taking over on the Massillon 47, Grimes cut off tackle and back through the middle for the score at 5:11. The TD run was a 45-yarder. Bryant went off right tackle for the conversion.

Massillon had only eight first downs. The Tigers picked up 98 net yards on the ground, losing 25. They gained 31 yards via the aerial route. The total was 129.

The Tigers return home next week to face the tough Steubenville Big Red, winners of four straight contests.

Hard To Believe

MASSILLON – 0
Ends – McAllister, Perry, Franklin, Jones, Hose and Alexander.
Tackles – Clendening, Profant, Miller, Tarle and Fabianich.
Guards – Ehmer, McDew, Swisher, Mathias, Geckler, Castile and Morgan.
Centers – Bradley, Scassa, Rambaud and Paisley.
Backs – Gatsios, Swartz, Rink, Kanney, Davis, Blunt,
Eckard, Getz, Thomas and Lawrence.

ALLIANCE – 46
Ends – Bareny, Greene and Waters.
Tackles – Woods, Fetters and G. Freraccio.
Guards – Cade, Hairston, M. Freraccio and Allen.
Centers – Felice, Dicken and Shilling.
Backs – Wade, Grimes, Bryant, Young, Holmes and Blaer.

Massillon 0 0 0 0 0
Alliance 6 14 6 20 46

Touchdowns:
Alliance – Grimes 3 (5, 16 and 46-yard runs); Bryant 2 (75 and 20-yard runs); Young 1 (10-yard run) and Waters 1 (27-yard pass from Wade).

Conversions:
Alliance – Waters 1 (pass from Wade) and Bryant 1 (run).

Officials:
Referee – Fritz Graf (Akron).
Umpire – John Holzbach (Youngstown).
Head Linesman – Bill Holwarth (Louisville).
Field Judge – Carl Spessard (Cuyahoga Falls).

GAME STATISTICS
Mass. Opp.
First downs – rushing 5 12
First downs – passing 2 4
First downs – penalties 1 2
Total first downs 8 18
Yards gained rushing 123 325
Yards lost rushing 25 3
Net yards gained rushing 96 332
Yards gained passing 31 125
Total yards gained 129 447
Passes attempted 12 7
Passes completed 4 4
Passes intercepted by 0 1
Times kicked off 1 8
Kickoff average (yards) 55.0 47.1
Kickoff returns (yards) 105 30
Times punted 4 1
Punt average (yards) 12.6 13
Punt returns (yards) 0 29
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 1
Lost fumbled ball 2 0
Penalties 2 8
Yards penalized 20 50

History

1961: Massillon 26, Alliance 0

September 29, 1961July 11, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Roll Over Alliance High 26-0
Tight Bengal Defense Limits Aviators To 44 Net Yards Rushing

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

Massillon’s terrific Tigers had the “Keys to the Kingdom” Friday night at Tiger stadium. And they unlocked another door in the path to a third straight state high school football championship for Leo Strang’s charges.

The Benglas shut out previously undefeated Alliance 26-0 before the largest crowd of the season. Some 91,319 fans sat in on the slaughter of the hapless Aviators, who have never won a game at Tiger stadium.

“We must have read a 100 keys out there,” said a jubilant Strang. He was referring to the method by which defenders can diagnose the direction and type of play coming at them. They watch certain key players for the tipoff.

* * *
BY DOING THIS expertly and wheeling and pealing, blitzing from and eight-man defensive line and pursuing plays doggedly the Tigers held the Aviators to a mere 44 net yards rushing. The Bengals completely smothered Alliance’s heretofore explosive attack. They were thus the first to stop the deadly Alliance sweep play. The vaunted “Pony Backs” – Marion Young, Glenn Hill and Larry Grimes, never had a chance. Quarterback Jim LaFountain got few passes away. The ones he connected on netted Alliance only 10 yards. When he did pass, the Tiger secondary covered receivers like a glove, allowing Mel Knowlton’s boys to complete only one of nine aerials.

“This was the best defensive effort I’ve ever gotten from a team playing an opponent the caliber of Alliance,” Strang said. He meant not only at Massillon but in his entire coaching career.

An effort like the one the Bengals made Friday night has to be a tribute to a great coaching staff. A fine job of scouting plus utilization of the reports to the utmost resulted in the Tigers’ fourth straight and most impressive win of the season.

“We, the coaches, put in long sessions this week, staying up to midnight and 1 a.m. studying the Alliance offense and how to defense it correctly,” Strang said. “I’m dead. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a week,” he added

* * *
A DEJECTED KNOWLTON said, “I have no alibis. We were lousy in all departments. But don’t get me wrong,” he added, “I’m not taking anything away from Massillon. That’s a great team.”

The contest was marred by a free-for-all at the contest’s conclusion. Massillon’s Bob Baker and Alliance’s Marion Young had a difference of opinion in the middle of the field during the last play. Then both benches emptied. Fists were swinging and helmets flying. But most of the uproar was a lot of pushing.

Both Strang and Knowlton, right in the middle of the melee, said, “We tried to break the thing up. But as quickly as one fight was stopped, more got started. This is an awful thing to have happen.” Actually, there weren’t as many boys fighting as it seemed, but it was enough to ruin an otherwise fine night of football. The altercation was stopped after about five minutes.

It would be unfair to single out any Bengal for fine play offensively or defensively because all did such a tremendous job. But it must be mentioned that Fullback Ken Dean scored three of the Tigers’ four touchdowns.

It appears that Dean, who reported about 40 pounds overweight last month and is now down to a trim, for him, 218, is back on the beam. His old speed and power, which brought him All-American honors in 1960, appear to have been recovered.

* * *
“IT SURE FELT great out there,” the big guy said, “but please give the whole gang credit. They gave me the opportunities.”

One of the guys who was instrumental in Dean’s TD romps was Ron Schenkenberger. He caught two key passes that set up two six-pointers. The little wingback also set up another score by Fullback Fred Philpott.

Passing was all important to the Strangmen. They opened up the middle by throwing to unstack the Aviators’ five-four and four-five defenses which jammed up the Tigers’ ground game down the middle.

It looks like Philpott and Dean will be the big yardage boys from now on. Philpott did the open field running and Dean got the short yardage in tight.

“That’s the way I’ll use them the rest of the season,” Strang said.

The Tigers won the toss for the first time this season. But it didn’t do them any good. On their first play from scrimmage, the Bengals fumbled on their own 42. Jim Fraraccio recovered for Alliance.

The Aviators drove to the Massillon 24, their deepest penetration of the night. On a first down play, Alliance fumbled, and Steve Garland hopped on the errant pigskin.

* * *
IT COULD BE that this fumble broke the spirit of the Aviators for they never got going again. Had they gotten an early score, the game might have been tighter.

This could also have been what the doctor ordered for Massillon. The Bengals were certainly keyed up for the entire 48 minutes.

The Tigers got only four yards during their first series. But that was the only time they didn’t get more than one first down when they had the ball in their hands.

The Airmen, on the other hand, got only one other drive going the entire night, and they lost the ball on downs on the Massillon 26 on that one, which occurred in the last period.

Quarterback Jim LaFountain punted on fourth and two on the Massillon 42 in the second Alliance series. Schenkenberger, attempting the runback, gave the hometown fans a fright when he fumbled on his 12. He recovered, however.

* * *
THE TIGERS then took off on an 88-yard touchdown romp, covering 15 plays and picking up five first downs along the route. Strang’s charges alternated between sweeps and plays up through the center on the drive.

Schenkenberger had two fine pass catches to help set up Massillon’s first score. The first was a 17-yarder on the down-and-out pattern from mid field to the Alliance 33. Quarterback Jim Alexander completed another from the 17 to the two with Schenk running the diagonal pattern.

Dean then came into the game and ran two straight wedge plays up the center, scoring from the one on the second run as the first period ended. Brown tried to go between the long side guard and inside tackle for the conversion but missed.

Another Alliance series followed. And LaFountain was forced to punt again. Schenkenberger fumbled and recovered again, this time at the Airmen’s 47. Had he not lost time on the bobble he might have scored for his path was wide open.

Cornerbacker, Floyd Pierce made a brilliant over-the-shoulder interception on the Aviators’ 29, to set the stage again.

Schenkenberger grabbed a button-hook pass on the next play and raced to the two from where Dean went over on the wedge a second time at 5:54. Alexander’s pass to Larry Ehmer misfired on the conversion attempt.

* * *
LINEBACKER Charlie Whitfield put the Tigers back into business near the end of the period by recovering an Alliance fumble on the Aviators’ 41, but the Bengals failed to capitalize on the situation this time.

Massillon’s last effort of the half ended when a pass to Schenkenberger down the middle was knocked down by safety Tony King around the Aviator 10. He batted down two other potential TD aerials.

Both Strang and Knowlton heaped praise on King saying, “He did a tremendous job on defense.”

In the third period Massillon got its only TD coupled with a conversion. Again it was Dean, this time on what started with the big fullback cutting in between the tackles and then out to the sideline on the right side. He carried two players with him and finally fell on the goal flag for the score at 1:37. The run came from the five. Brown’s sweep of right end netted the conversion.

Massillon had taken over after an Aviator punt on the Tiger 49. Covering 51 yards ,the scoring march was completed in eight plays.

One of the really funny incidents of the night occurred in the third period. On another Aviator punt Schenkenberger and Baker each thought the other was going to catch the ball and it hit the former on the top of his head. Luckily the Tigers recovered.

* * *
MASSILLON SCORED its last TD in the dying minutes of the game, showing once again that the Tigers know how to utilize the clock. The Tigers recovered a fumble on the Alliance 29 to set this one up.

In three plays it was 26-0 at 0:38. Schenkenberger caught a pass on the first play using the “banana” pattern, out and then looping in and down the center. The play carried to the 11. Brown swept right end to the one, and Philpott scored on the wedge. With Alexander holding, Co-Captain Ken Ivan attempted to kick a conversion for the first time this season. However, the ball hit one of the uprights and caromed back into the field, just missing going through by inches.

The Bengals’ now leave Tiger stadium until Oct. 20, playing at Steubenville next week and Cincinnati Roger Bacon, Oct. 12.

Strang set the tone for coming games with the statement, “I don’t know whether we can stay keyed up for the next five or six weeks or not.”

A Big Victory

ALLIANCE
Ends – King, Leaf, Crowder, Green.
Tackles – Admonius, Dunn, Woods.
Guards – Frearaccio, Long and Mallory.
Center – Stoops.
Backs – LaFountain, Grimes, and Young.

MASSILLON
Ends – Ivan, L. Ehmer, Garland, Pierce.
Tackles – Strobel, Spees, Paisley, Mercer.
Guards – Clendenin, Whitfield, Poole, Migge, and Radel.
Center – Bradley.
Backs – Alexander, Schenkenberger, Brown, Philpott, Baker,
Dean, Snively, Davis and Williams.

Massillon – 6 6 8 6 – 26

Scoring
Touchdowns – Dean 3 (one, two, five-yard runs);
Philpott (one-yard run).
Conversions – Brown (sweep).

OFFICIALS
Referee – Bud Shopbell.
Umpire – Jim Lymper.
Head Linesman – (unreadable)
Field Judge – (unreadable)

STATISTICS
Mass. All.
First downs – rushing 11 2
First downs – passing 4 1
First downs – penalties 0 2
Total first downs 15 5
Yards gained rushing 206 84
Yards lost rushing 9 40
Net yards gained rushing 197 44
Yards gained passing 103 10
Total yards gained 300 54
Passes attempted 14 9
Passes completed 6 2
Passes intercepted by 1 1
Times kicked off 5 1
Kickoff average (yards) 45.8 45
Kickoff returns (yards) 20 61
Times punted 4 4
Punt average (yards) 38.2 33.5
Punt return (yards) 17 14
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 4
Lost fumbled ball 1 3
Penalties 3 2
Yards penalized 35 10

History

1960: Massillon 14, Alliance 10

September 30, 1960July 11, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat Alliance In Final Minute
Martin Gugov Plunges For Clincher With 57 Seconds Left To Play

By JIM QUILTY

“I’ve been coaching for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of wild games. But that’s the wildest.”

And not one among the 10,464 paid fans who jammed Hartshorn stadium in Alliance could disagree with victorious Coach Leo Strang’s summation of the 14-10 Washington high school victory Friday night.

The triumph established the Tigers as the team to beat in their defense of the Ohio scholastic football crown. It was their fourth victory of the season and 17th in succession over three years.

The winning score came with 57 seconds remaining when Martin Gugov climaxed a 65-yard drive crashing off tackle from two yards out.

Only the clock prevented the Aviators from a possible score as they moved to the Tigers’ 10 before time ran out.

An exhausted Strang said the Aviators of Mel Knowlton were “the best team I’ve ever coached against.”

* * *
STRANG was still very much upset in the Tiger dressing room about an official’s call which gave the Aviators a two-point, 10-8, lead and possession off the ball in the closing moments of the third period.

Bob Baker intercepted Aviator Quarterback Bob Wallace’s pass intended for Charley King near the goal line. King then tackled Baker in the end zone. The officials ruled Baker had caught the ball on the field of play, then went into the end zone. The safety gave the Aviators a then commanding lead.

“That call could have meant the state championship,” a still hazy Strang stated.

A free kickoff from the Washington high 20 following the safety was brought back to the Tigers’ 37 by the Aviators.

The Tigers who managed only one cohesive drive over the first three periods – that one netted the first score – were far from finished.

Taking over after an Alliance four and 14 yards to go attempt failed on the Tigers’ 35, the locals drove the 65 yards in 17 plays, all on the ground chewing up nearly seven minutes to push the deciding tally across.

* * *\
ART HASTINGS carried the ball seven times, Ken Dean, the bulldozing fullback, four times, Gugov another four times and Larson twice.

Larson ticked off seven yards on the first attempt, then whipped around end for nine to the Aviator six for the first down on a quarterback keeper.

Four plays later, after Hastings had churned to the two behind the Tigers’ forceful line, Gugov sliced between inside and outside tackle on the right side of the line for the touchdown.

But, had it not been for the goal line stance by the Tigers defensive unit midway through the third period, the complexion of the game would have been entirely altered.

The Aviators, following King’s 31-yard gain to the Tiger eight, moved to the two in two downs. King then attempted to skirt his left end on a pattern, which had been working fine. But Hastings busted up the interference this time tossing King down on the 10.

* * *
THE SPEEDY half, who figured in all 10 of the Aviators’ points, picked up seven yards on the next play to the Tiger three falling short.

That was only one of three occasions when the Tigers held inside their 25. The yardage came easy for the Aviators until the final few. There the Tigers held every time but once.

The first Bengal touchdown came without apparent effort. After Gary Wells pounced on an Aviator fumble to curtail the first Alliance drive on the locals’ 28, the Tigers moved 72 yards in seven plays. The longest gain was a 40-yard aerial from Larson to Ken Ivan.

Ivan grabbed the ball in the left secondary on Washington high’s 45 and raced to the Alliance 29 before King tripped him up. Five plays and two penalties later, five yards against the Tigers for offside, half the distance against Alliance for unsportsmanlike conduct (the call moved the ball from the eight to the four), Hastings cracked through the center for the score.

Dean, who reeled off 26 yards in the drive, plunged for the two-point conversion with 3:21 remaining in the first period.

The Aviators marched to the Tiger 18 after taking the ensuing kickoff before an incompleted pass on a third down and two to go and Wells’ tackle of Hugh Wilson on the 20 gave the Tigers possession.

After picking up a lone first down, Hastings’ fumble was recovered by Dave Trief on the Washington high 45.

The Aviators, with Wallace directing the attack around King and Wilson, scored in 11 plays. Wallace’s pass to King covered 12 of the yards.

He again hit King after a deft bit of ball handling had thrown the Tiger defenses off the tying
Two-point conversion with 2:24 remaining in the half.

The Tigers then ran out the first half clock.
* * *

FIRST half statistics gave Alliance a 97 to 76-yard rushing edge. The Tigers led in passing, 40 yards to 12. The Aviators had seven first downs, Washington high five.

Despite the statistics, Alliance had the invaders on the defensive most of the first half, aside from the Tiger scoring drive. Only once was Alliance outside Washington high territory. That was after a punt by Ken Dean bounced out of bounds on the Aviator 47.

The second half started the way the first ended with Alliance again threatening.

After King had returned Charlie Williams’ kick-off to the Aviator 26, the hosts put together three successive first downs moving to Washington high’s eight. The last first and ten came on King’s
31-yard sprint through the center of the Tigers’ defense. Ed Radel pulled him down from behind.

After the Tigers held, Dean pulled them from trouble with a 19-yard gain up the middle behind a blocking force led by Jay B. Willey and Ivan. A clipping violation two plays later and an incomplete pass ended the assault.

Dean’s punt went to King who returned it to the Alliance 46. In five plays the Aviators were again in scoring position on the Tigers’ 30.

Wallace then faded back, spotted King near the goal line and let fly. Baker grabbed it and was tackled in the end zone.

When Gugov scored to give Washington high the four-point edge, the decision appeared locked up.
* * *

BUT Wallace, King and Company, aided by a 15-yard penalty against the Bengals on the kickoff, marched from the Tiger 45 to the 10, Wallace connecting through the air to King twice and Marion ‘Plunky’ Young once. Time then clicked off as the Aviators were hurriedly lining up for another play.

Dean enjoyed his finest night of the season. The 190-pound junior rolled up 91 yards on 15 carries. Hastings added 45 yards on 17 as the two toted the ball over 75 per cent on the locals rushing plays.
* * *

“THE THING we have to look out for now is the letdown. We just can’t relax,” Strang said after the game.

Leo had special praise for his assistant coaches who did what he called “one fine job” on the last touchdown drive.

Walt Keller, team trainer, said the squad came out of the game in top condition. Only a few minor muscle injuries, similar to ‘charley-horses,’ cropped up with Dean and Hastings.

Washington high’s next start is at Tiger stadium Friday night against a reportedly strong Steubenville team. The Big Red bowed to Weirton, W. Va., 13-6, last week after opening with a
16-8 win over Cleveland Lincoln. Last night the Red and Warren battled to a 12-12 tie

Still Unbeaten

MASSILLON
ENDS – Royer, Ivan, Anzalone.
TACKLES – White, Spees, Crenshaw, Herbst, Brugh.
GUARDS – Houston, Willey ,Whitfield, Radel.
CENTER – Demis.
BACKS – Larson, Dean, Hastings, Baker, Gugov, Williams, Brown,
Kurzen, Schenkenberger, Snively, Null.

ALLIANCE
ENDS – Davidson, Lear, Longmire.
TACKLES – Tunelius, Caserts, Fraraccio, Knauf, Trieff.
GUARDS – Bard, Teeters, Crowder, Van Camp.
CENTER – Leasure.
BACKS – Wallace, King, Wilson, Young, Holmes, Babb, Russell.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Massillon 8 0 0 6 14
Alliance 0 8 2 0 10

Massillon – Hastings (2, run); Gugov (2, run).
Alliance – King (1, run).

Alliance Extra Points – King (pass from Wallace).

Alliance safety – King tackled Baker in end zone.

STATISTICS
Massillon All.
First downs – rushing 9 10
First downs – passing 1 3
First downs – penalties 0 0
Total first downs 10 13
Yards gained rushing 200 208
Yards lost rushing 1 19
Net yards gained rushing 199 189
Net yards gained passing 40 70
Total yards gained 239 258
Passes attempted 3 8
Passes completed 1 5
Passes intercepted by 1 0
Times kicked off 4 2
Kickoff average (yards) 30.7 41.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 10 40
Times punted 2 0
Punt average (yards) 26.0 0
Punt return (yards) 0 8
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 3 3
Lost fumbled ball 2 3
Penalties 6 3
Yards penalized 60 24

History

1959: Massillon 14, Alliance 0

October 2, 1959July 9, 2017
by Eric Smith

19,387 See Tigers Beat Alliance 14-0

By CHARLIE POWELL

Massillon’s Tigers or maybe we should say terrific Tigers, Friday night had higher voltage than Marilyn Monroe ever had.

They had to have it, partner, to take the wind out of the sails of the Alliance Aviators, 14-0, in a rip-snorting, hard-hitting defensive battle, the likes of which is seldom seen anywhere.

As the crowd of 19,387 paid fans will attest, two mighty fine football teams staged a rock’em, sock’em spine-crinkler at Tiger stadium.

As it turned out, the Tigers had their troubles, keeping their fans shaking like a wet dog for over three quarters, but the offensive punch was just lethal enough to deflate the hopes of the Aviators and their rabid followers.
* * *
THE HUSTLERS wearing togs (which for the first time included white shoes and new black jerseys) struck for a second period touchdown made on a 10-yard pass, Joe Sparma to the big Hase McKey six plays after Bill Finney got off a 56-yard dash. But it was anybody’s ball game until mid way in the final session when the Bengals marched, 52 yards with second string left half Martin Gugov going across from the seven after Massillon capered on an 18-yard jaunt by the same lad and an 18-yard pass play, the slick throwing Sparma to the slippery Hastings.

Leo Strang’s charges, who passed away a golden scoring opportunity late in the first half, bottled up the defending state champions except on two occasions, and it was their ability to dig in on critical third-down-and-short-yardage situations which proved to be a main factor.

But the one big play that will be “re-played” for many moons came about late in the third quarter when a touchdown would have given the Aviators new life and made the Tiger task more rigid.

The Aviators capitalized on Bobby Wallace’s passing and the running of a pile-driver named Charley King, 146-pound junior halfback, to advance from their own 45 to the Tiger three-yard line. The first pass of the drive, Wallace to End Larry Shinn (who made a diving catch), was good for 11 yards and the second, a 16-yard effort from Wallace to Halfback Lee Woolf, put the pigskin at the Bengal seven.
* * *
ALLIANCE FANS were in an uproar while Massillon faithful literally held their breath.

King, who in a good night’s work gained 103 yards in 20 tries, then made four yards and on second down, Wallace unfurled another pass.

He tossed into the right flat, near the goal line and although the Tigers were in a 10-man line, three Massillon players managed to drop back into the end zone. Linebacker Frank Midure – one of many Tiger stalwarts – only had to take a couple of steps to his left to latch onto the ball.

Midure stepped from the end zone into the playing field and chugged to the Tiger 30. Tiger fans breathed more naturally.

The Aviators were down and just about out. Massillon held them the next two times they had possession. McKey, the ace middle guard, knifed in to thwart a third-down-and-one line smash and when Nick Daugenti returned a punt to the Bengal 48, the hometown heroes went into action to apply the clincher.
* * *
AFTER GUGOV’S touchdown the visitors made one first down before Halfback Hugh Wilson’s fumble was recovered by Captain “Sluggo” Bednar at the Alliance 47 and it was all over but the hurrahs.

The Aviators still haven’t won a game at Massillon since 1927. It was the first loss of the season, in fact it snapped an eight-game winning streak and the setback put a real crimp in Aviator hopes for top ranking in the Ohio scholastic poll.

Apparently Massillon’s No. 1 rating was solidified as the Tigers captured their third straight decision and ran the Alliance series tally to 41-5-2.

But it will be out of the frying pan and into the fire for the orange and black. Steubenville is next. Albeit the Steubers lost to Paul Warfield and Co. of Warren Harding 13-8 last night, as next Friday’s game at Steubenville will be another stiff fight.

If the Steubenville fray – or any other game, has as much hard tackling as the one last night it will be something!

Both sides went at it hammer and tongs, with jarring tackle followed by jarring tackle. There was some good, crisp blocking too and both teams came up with some nifty gainers but every single yard was given grudgingly.
* * *
THE TIGER infantry outdid the invading crew by gaining 235 yards to Alliance’s 152. Via the airways, however, Sparma hit on four of nine for 46 yards as Mel Knowlton’s defense apparently was set up to stop the long pass. Wallace threw 11 times and completed four for 67 yards. The Tigers had a bare 12-10 edge in first downs.

But it’s always the score that counts and Massillon today was all hotsy-totsy.

The phrase, “team effort,” is over played in many instances but that is what made the orange and black the better team last night.

Coach Strang, passing out the bouquets in the dressing room , thought the “big play” was Midure’s timely interception.

“There was a lot of defense out there. We can thank Russ Ramsey’s scouting crew for doing a fine spy job and making adjustments to our defense.

“I don’t think anyone else will hold Alliance scoreless. They have a real fine football team…there were a lot of crucial plays but our kids did their job…our second stringers came through in grand style…all the boys gave it everything they had and we should certainly be proud of them,” he added.
* * *
STRANG ALSO commended his assistants who passed along strategy from their spotting booth atop the stands.

He said all the defensive players deserved lots of credit but singled out McKey and Bednar for leading the way. Sparma shined in directing the offense – and the sweet-slinging quarterback was under a handicap in the last quarter.

Right before the second TD, Joe was conked on the head and was wobbly for the remainder of the game. In both scoring drives he hit on key pass plays and his faking threw the visitors off kilter more than once.

The running backs, given big holes and then twisting, dodging and bulldozing on their own, filled the order. Finney was the leading yardage-getter with a net of 109 yards in 14 trips with the pigskin. Hastings made 85 yards in 13 tries and Gugov, in five carries, picked up 47 yards.

In the other dressing room, a downcast Knowlton was bothered, and rightfully so, by the fact that the Aviators failed to hit the jackpot on their third quarter drive.

“It we had gotten that touchdown, which we should have, we would have had the game,” he commented.

“We were moving but when you lose one like that I think it can mean the difference,” he said.
* * *
AN ASSISTANT remarked that the interception meant the game and Mel reiterated his view.

“We were doing all right but when you lose one like that on third and three it’s just tough,” he lamented. (Actually it was second down and six to go at the time).

For Alliance, the veteran Woolf was held to 23 yards in seven carries while Wilson carted nine times for 38 yards.

Besides averaging over five yards a clip, the sturdy King did some fine blocking and was a bear on defense.

Most of the first quarter was defense. Midure recovered a fumble on the third play of the night and from the Aviator 41, the host aggregation marched to the 12 only to surrender the ball on downs as Sparma was halted on a four-and-three fake pitch-out play.

After an exchange of punts a 32-yard pass, Wallace to End Paul Trieff who caught the ball behind two defenders at the Tiger 39 and sped to the 31, put the Alliance boys in business. They gained five in two plays, McKey then stopped Woolf at the line of scrimmage and on fourth down King was stopped a yard short of a first down at the Massillon 22. Before you could say Khrushchev the Tigers shot ahead.
* * *
FINNEY found a hole on the left side, wriggled in the clear at the Aviator 35 and darted 56 yards to the Aviator 22. Hastings gained five, a Sparma to Wood pass was good for eight and after two five-yard penalties against each team, Sparma went to the air again.

This time McKey was open in the left flat and husky Hase latched onto the swinehide at the one, took one step, and it was six to zero at 9:54. Finney was stopped short on the PAT attempt.

That was the first half fireworks, although the Orangemen were working up a storm before intermission. Hastings sprinted for 20 and Gugov got 14 to help reach the Aviator 22. Then Sparma winged another beauty with Hastings on the receiving end and Art did the pile-driver act to plant the ball on the seven but an offside penalty turned the cheers to sadness.

Two plays netted two before a mix-up in the backfield caused Sparma to lose nine yards.

Alliance threatened in the third period but Midure nullified a 52-yard march and there was nothing to write home about for the first four and a half minutes of the last chapter.

Daugenti returned a punt 12 yards and the Bengals started the drive that knocked Alliance chances into limbo.
* * *
FINNEY sandwiched gains of five and three yards around Sparma’s one-yard try at the middle before Gugov raced 18 yards to the 25. He would have had a touchdown except that he stumbled over a teammate at the Alliance 30.

The very next play was also good for 18 yards as Sparma pegged to Hastings. From the seven, Gugov barreled off right tackle and at 4:55 Massillon had its insurance six-pointer. Gugov stabbed at left tackle on the PAT try, fumbled and Wood recovered in the end zone to make it 14-0.

Two minutes later Bednar pounced on a fumble and the Tigers were moving again. Wood sped 18 with the help of a block by Jim Houston on a statue-of-liberty and Hastings made nine and six, respectively, but this bid was thwarted by a holding penalty. Massillon turned over the ball at the Alliance 28 and after Wilson went seven on a double reverse, the gun sounded.

A Big Victory

MASSILLON
ENDS – McKey, Barkman, Oliver, Zumbrunn.
TACKLES – Appleby, Bukuts, Haines, Wells.
GUARDS –Bednar, Willey, Midure, Houston, Whitfield, White.
CENTERS – Snodgrass, Snyder, Demis.
QUARTERBACK –Sparma.
HALFBACKS – Wood, Finney, Herring, Gugov, Daugenti.
FULLBACKS – Hastings, Hershberger, Dean.

ALLIANCE
ENDS – P. Trieff, Shinn, Longmire, Havelock.
TACKLES – Davidson, D. Trieff, Caserta, Kennedy.
GUARDS – Paone, Adomius, Britton, Taylor.
CENTERS – Furcolow, Teeters.
QUARTERBACK – Wallace.
HALFBACKS – Woolf, Wilson, Headley.
FULLBACKS – King, Prince.

Scoring by quarters:
Massillon 0 6 0 8 14

Touchdowns – Massillon: McKey (10-P); Gugov (7-R).
Extra Points – Massillon: Wood (Recovered fumble in end zone).

OFFICIALS
Referee – Dan Tehan.
Field Judge – C. W. Rupp.
Head Linesman – Arthur Rittersbaugh.
Umpire – Roy Wisecup.
Statistics
Mass. Alli.
First downs – rushing 9 6
First downs – passing 3 4
First downs – penalties 0 0
Total first downs 12 10
Yards gained rushing 262 161
Yards lost rushing 9 9
Net yards gained rushing 253 152
Yards gained passing 46 67
Total yards gained 299 219
Passes attempted 9 11
Passes completed 4 4
Passes intercepted by 1 0
Times kicked off 3 1
Kickoff average (yards) 43.3 50
Kickoff returns (yards) 15 26
Times punted 3 3
Punt average (yards) 35.8 31.3
Punt returns (yards) 25 34
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 1 2
Lost fumbled ball 1 2
Penalties 6 1
Yards penalized 40 5

Second-Guessers
Have Field Day as
Tigers Top Aviators
By DON LIGHTNER
Repository Sports Writer

MASSILLON – What would be your strategy if you had the football planted on the opponent’s three-yard-line with three plays to push it into the end zone?

Well, it’s assured the 19,387 fans who attended the Massillon-Alliance clash here last night would be of one opinion – by all means, try to run it over.

But they had one big advantage. They could second-guess.

Alliance quarterback Bob Wallace elected to pass. The aerial was intercepted and Massillon went on to post a tooth-jarring 14-0 victory.

Although it is easy to question Wallace’s decision, one can not find too much fault with it.

For argument’s sake, let’s say the pass clicked for a touchdown. Alliance would have tied the game at 6-6 with a chance to go ahead 7-6 or 8-6 depending on the conversion.

This would have given the Aviators a tremendous psychological lift and put the pressure on the Tigers.

However, this is not to say the Bengals would have lost. Massillon scored another touchdown in the final period. But it might have been a different game.

With a lead in the third quarter, Alliance could have played it cozy and forced Massillon to take chances.

But this is only conjecture. The state’s top-ranked Bengals played heads-up football all the way. They had to – all the way.

They turned in a great performance defensively. Few fans figured they could hold the defending state titlists – ranked – No. 2 – scoreless.

Alliance had two other streaks snapped. It was the Aviators first loss in 15 games and stopped their shut-out mark at eight games. The Aviators hadn’t been scored on since the fourth game of last season.

Massillon Coach Leo Strang was all smiles after the game. Boosters and friends flowed into the locker room to give him a well-deserved pat on the back.

“Boy, if the fans didn’t get their money’s worth tonight, they never will,” Leo said smiling.

“I was very well pleased with our defensive work. I’ll bet you there won’t be another team this season to hold Alliance scoreless.

“I wasn’t too happy with our offense. I believe we made more mistakes against Alliance than we did in our previous two games combined.”

Strang went on to say quarterback Joe Sparma couldn’t remember for some time how the Tigers got their last touchdown.

“Joe must have been bumped pretty hard,” Leo continued. “He doesn’t know even when he got hurt. But I noticed something was wrong when on two plays he turned the wrong way on handoffs. Joe just doesn’t make those mistakes.”

Strang also said Wallace made the right call when he tried to pass for the touchdown.

“It’s just an automatic call,” Leo said. “We were in a 10-man line. Actually, that was the thing to do.”

Over in the Alliance locker room, Coach Mel Knowlton already was talking about getting another win streak started.

“We’ll just have to get going all over again,” Mel said. “After all, a 9-1 record isn’t bad at all.”

Knowlton refused to criticize Wallace for his decision to pass. “If the pass would have worked, Bob would be a hero,” Mel said.

“I believe we would have won the ball game if we could have scored. But it’s just one of those things. No one is to blame.”

Massillon got its first scoring drive started early in the second period. Alliance pushed the ball to the Massillon 22-yard-line where it lost possession on downs.

On the first play from scrimmage, Tiger halfback Bill Finney raced 56 yards before being hauled down on the 22-yard line.

After two running plays netted only four yards, Sparma went to work. He threw a nine-yard pass to halfback Jim Wood and followed up by pitching a TD strike to end Hase McKey in the end zone.

That was all the scoring in the first half.

In the third quarter, Alliance covered a fumble on its own 45.

Sparked by 17 and 11-yard passes by Wallace to halfback Leo Woolf and end Larry Shinn, respectively, Alliance had a first down on Massillon’s seven-yard-line.

Fullback Charley King rammed to the three. Then came Wallace’s controversial pass, which ended the drive. Guard Frank Midure picked it off in the end zone and ran it out to the Massillon 30-yard line.

Massillon iced the decision in the fourth period.

After forcing Alliance to punt, the Bengals drove 53-yards in six plays. Halfback Martin Gugov covered the final seven yards.

On the extra point run, Gugov fumbled in the end zone but the pigskin was recovered by Wood.

While many players from both teams turned in top jobs, Alliance’s King stole the show.

He was the backbone of the Aviators. He not only carried the load offensively, but did a tremendous job defensively.

Massillon showed its depth by sharing its running duties between Wood, Hastins, Finney and Gugov.

Massillon held an 11-10 advantage in first downs. It gained a total of 299 yards to Alliance’s 219.

The Aviator’s had an edge in the passing department, hitting on four of 11 for 67 yards. The Bengals threw nine times, completed four for 46 yards.

Massillon boosted its series lead over Alliance to 30-5-1. Last season, the two teams battled to an 8-8 tie.

History

1958: Massillon 8, Alliance 8

September 26, 1958July 9, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers And Alliance Battle To 8-8 Tie
Massillon Gridders Knot Score On Second Play Of Fourth Period

By CHARLIE POWELL

The 35th Massillon-Alliance football battle will be entered in the history books as the first tie game in modern day rivalry.

It also will be known as one of the most “iffy” issues of all time. The controversy attributed to that 8-8 deadlock at Mt. Union College stadium Friday night will last for a long, long time.

The game will be replayed many times over by the 10,000 – plus fans, including 9,510 paid, who were there when “if” this or “if” that had happened – or hadn’t happened – their favorites would have grabbed the spoils. But all the “ifs” and “buts” will not change the story – the story of an underdog Alliance team emerging with a moral victory over a Tiger team hounded by some sort of a jinx.
* * *
THE JINX affected Coach Leo Strang just as it affected two of the last three Tiger mentors, Chuck Mather and Tom Harp. However, Strang was a little more fortunate, the first blemish on his slate being a tie while the first time Massillon lost under Mather and Harp it was to the Aviators at the Alliance field.

The Tigers, in most previous trips to Alliance, had their troubles and last night was no exception as penalties, injuries and mistakes that can happen to anyone went against them.

But the one crucial play that will be remembered for many a moon will be the pass interception which would have given the Tigers possession shortly after their tying touchdown and conversion had it not been for a penalty.

As the final period got under way the Bengals climaxed a 68-yard march by sending Fullback Dave Dean in for a TD and then sub Back Jim Snively across for the tying points.

The timepiece showed 7:51 remaining on the play that broke Massillon’s back.
* * *
ON A SECOND and nine situation, Walt Zingg, the fine Alliance quarterback, tossed a pass into the right flat and after it was deflected twice, the ball landed in the arms of Ted Radtke, defensive corner back for the Tigers, and from his own 30 Ted got back to the 48.

For a few seconds bedlam reigned among Tiger fans but it was Alliance’s turn to roar after the referee stepped off a 15-yard roughing – the – passer penalty against the Bengals.

The Aviators finally reached the Tiger 18 before giving up the pigskin but Massillon was in its own backyard, not to get out.

They had to kick, then the defense stopped the host club shy of a first down at the 38 before getting possession again. On the next play End Larry Shinn pounced on a fumble and two plays later it was all over.
* * *
COACH STRANG, while having his doubts about some of the calls made by the officials, did not question the pass interference ruling at length. He showed mild dissatisfaction, figuring the best thing to do was to wait until he could study the game movies.

Somewhat stunned after seeing a team of his finish in a tie for the first time in his coaching experience. Strang elaborated on Alliance’s first play from scrimmage of the night.

Gene Venables, the flashy running fullback who made 89 yards in 18 carries for the red and blue, headed around the left side from his own 31 – and was apparently trapped for a 12-yard loss. But he managed to slip away from his would-be tacklers and wasn’t downed until after he had picked up 21 yards.

That kept the Aviators going. In 11-more plays, including a 12-yard jaunt by pocket-sized Lee Woolf, they hit pay dirt with Halfback Bob Brown tallying from the four. Venables scored the extra points on a sweep at 3:20 and it was 8-0 despite Massillon cries that the Alliance boy did not cross the final stripe.
* * *
THE TIGER mentor also thought a dropped pass coming just before halftime also hurt his team’s chances. Had the ball been caught the Bengals would have had a first down at about the Aviator 30 with a minute remaining in the second period.

This play occurred shortly after Jerry Allen, playing his first game of the season, sped for 17 yards and Quarterback Joe Sparma, unable to find a receiver open, ran for 10.

The Massillon cause certainly was handicapped by injuries, most of them minor, but enough to slow the boys down for a few minutes. In the case of Dean who received a leg injury on the fifth play of the game, it was more serious because the line-blasting co-captain was never quite the same after that.

Between injuries, bad breaks and players left virtually wilted by the humidity, the Tigers simply had it.

“Inexperience proved costly too,” was a reminder from Strang.

“We had a tough time making the right adjustments and it was only because of the lack of varsity game experience,” he said.

“Alliance kept changing its defense but we lacked the ability to make the necessary adjustments on the field.”
* * *
TOUCHING on the Tiger offense, Strang said he was very pleased with the running of Allen, who clicked off 71 yards in 16 trips; Sparma, who ran more than ever before, seven times for 21 yards; and sophomore Art Hastings who supplied the spark in the Tigers’ only big drive of the night.

Hastings, hitting quickly off tackle and up the middle, gained 24 yards during the thrust as he and Snively went into the lineup following injuries to Dean and Allen.

Allen had contributed 26 yards to help move the ball 68 yards. With the oval at the one as the final quarter started, Dean returned to action and on his second dive over center, made the touchdown at 11:13. Snively ripped off left tackle for the extra points.

Then came the much-discussed pass interference call and the Alliance effort, which came to a stop at the Orange 18. After an in-motion penalty, Sparma legged for 10, Dean for six and Hastings for one before a sweep lost two and Sparma was swarmed under for an
11-yard deficit as he tried to pass. The Tigers had to punt and in the remaining two and a half minutes both teams tried their best to break the deadlock. It wasn’t in the book.

It was the first tie game for Massillon since 1955. That year Mansfield and the Tigers played a 12-12 stalemate. The Massillon-Alliance modern day series now stands at 29 wins for Massillon, five wins for Alliance and the one tie.

Massillon and Alliance also waged a 19-19 tie in 1918.

The tie interrupted Massillon’s modest six-game winning streak, which started after the locals lost to Benedictine last year.

STATISTICS
M A
First Downs – Rushing 12 7
First Downs – Passing 0 2
First Downs – Penalties 1 1
Total First Downs 13 10
Number of Rushing Plays 50 44
Yards Gained – Rushing Plays 170 53
Yards Lost – Running Plays 18 11
Net Yardage – Running 152 142
Passes Attempted 6 4
Passes Completed 1 2
Passes Had Intercepted 1 0
Yards Returned –
Intercepted Passes 0 7
Yards Gained – Passing 7 43
Total Net Yardage –
Running and Passing 159 185
Number of Kickoff Returns 2 2
Yardage – Kickoff Returns 18 21
Average Length of Kickoff
Returns 9 10.5
Number of Punt Returns 1 1
Yardage – Punt Returns 10 2
Average Length of Punt Return 10 2
Number of Punts 2 2
Total Yardage on Punts 64 67
Average length of Punts 31 33.5
Number of Penalties 4 3
Yards Lost on Penalties 40 45
Number of Fumbles 2 0
Own Fumbles Recovered 1 0
Ball Lost on Fumbles 1 0

History

1956: Massillon 13, Alliance 0

September 28, 1956July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Win Thriller From Alliance
Massillon Gridders Triumph 13-0; Erase Old Jinx For Coach

By CHARLIE POWELL

It was another heap big scare, m’am, and Massillon was mighty glad it won.

There was good reason for rejoicing in the Tiger camp; the Tigers could point to their third victory in a row, the Alliance jinx was something of the past and Coach Lee Tressel’s personal winning skein had reached 37 games.

The Aviators, mainly on their longest sustained drive of the night, which came late in the third period and fizzled out on the first play of the final quarter, were like so many previous Alliance combines. They simply gave all they had before bowing 13-0 before 7,819 paid fans at Mt. Union College stadium.

But what they had wasn’t enough, thank goodness.

Massillon parlayed first and fourth period marches into its 28th win in 33 meetings with Alliance clubs. Fancy prancing Ivory Benjamin dashed into pay dirt twice and teamed with hard-nosed Mike Hershberger and the two line-busters, Chet Brown and “Chuck” Beiter, to give the Tigers the advantage when it came to moving that pigskin.

That the ground attack was the big difference was evident in that for the second time this season Massillon enjoyed a statistical edge. Just take a look.

Massillon, 13 first downs to Alliance’s 10, 270 net yards gained to 173. One Tiger aerial connection made 14 yards while the vaunted Aviator air game went ker-plunk.
* * *
ALLIANCE TRIED eight passes and not one settled into the arms of the intended receiver. But four times it was not fault of the passer, sophomore Walt Zingg.

This boy Zingg really threw the oval around but his efforts were in vain.

For instance, in that third quarter march Zingg’s flings could have put the host club back in the old ball game. Twice his receivers raced behind the Tiger secondary and were practically all by their lonesome when the pass arrived. But on both occasions the aerials were dropped.

Then after the drive ended, the Tigers had to punt and early in the spine-tingling final frame the Aviators went to work again. After Mike Hershberger got off one of his fine punts, this one 53 yards to the Aviator 10, the Mel Knowlton-coached crew advanced to their own 43 and once again one of their receivers dashed behind the secondary. Again the ball was right there but again Zingg’s toss was missed.
* * *
THE ORANGEMEN then applied the clincher. A march of 81 yards, featuring Beiter’s
35-yard caper up the middle, was capped when Benjamin whizzed around the right side for the final 13 yards.

The goalposts came down and the thumping in Massillon hearts eased considerably. What happened after that, except for the celebrating, was anti-climatic – even the fact that end Clyde Childers was required to kickoff three times.

Thus the Alliance jinx which made Paul Brown, Chuck Mather and Tom Harp its victims, went down the drain. And responsible was a green gang of fighters who licked a scrappy band of veterans.

Coach Tressel, enjoying one of his happiest hours, wouldn’t try to pick out any standouts.

“We are improving, our tackling was better and our downfield blocking looked good again. However, we have some more tough ones coming up. They are all rough…I mean it…but I believe we can hold our own if we continue to improve,” he said.

Tressel was a little peeved because of a second quarter let down but he explained the boys may have been tiring. However, apparently they got their second breath after stopping Alliance’s one big push of the night and as the last drive that iced the verdict was marked by crisp blocking and some hard running.
* * *
THE TIGER COACH was high on the Alliance team. He singled out halfbacks Timmy Johnson and Gary Wilson, who were particular thorns on inside running plays, and also paid a tribute to Zingg, a passer of “real promise.”

Johnson and Wilson accounted for 167 yards between them but their fast and shifty dashes failed to overshadow those of the four lads who carried the brunt of the Orange attack.

Benjamin zipped 92 yards in 14 carries with his touchdown coming on nifty runs of 25 and 14 yards, Hershberger made 76 in 16 trips, the improving Beiter gained 70 in five carries and Brown toted seven times for 31 yards.

Their runs were made possible by a mobile line that handled its job mighty fine. There were no standouts – everybody played hard and smart.

The game was less than two minutes old when guard Tom Meldrum jumped on a fumble at the enemy 49 – and Massillon was on its way to its first touchdown.

Hershberger and Benjamin gained three and five, respectively, before the former, twisting away from two would-be tacklers on a sweep to the left, picked up 14 yards to the 27. Brown got a yard, Benjamin fought for five and Hershberger fumbled and recovered for a four-yard deficit before Benjamin got on his horse.
* * *
THE WHIRLING dervish who plays left half for the Bengals took the ball on a double reverse – which caught the Aviators with their defenses down – and veered to the right. Blocking was near perfect and Ivory had it comparatively easy the last 15 yards of his
15-yard gallop. He was knocked for a loop but in the end zone and with six and a half minutes remaining in the panel, the Tigers were in front 6-0.

It was still six to zero after Davie Richardson’s placekick hit the crossbar and bounced back.

The rest of the quarter was meaningless other than Johnson’s 18-yard run but the hosts made two more first downs as the second round got under way. However, the Tigers knuckled down and finally end Attlilo Giovanatto had to punt from the Massillon 48.

The Tigers moved to their own 49 before Hershberger got off another terrific punt and another exchange of punts followed. The last time Alliance had possession in the first half Zingg tried three passes. One was almost intercepted by Benjamin, and two others were too far for the intended receiver.

Tressel’s halftime talk must have been a honey.

The Tigers came out loaded for Aviators. Except for a 15-yard foray by Beiter the yards were ripped off in short chunks as the Orangemen took the kickoff and moved from their own 16 to the 39.
* * *
BOB RINEHART the smooth quarterback, then hit on his only completion with Benjamin the catcher. The play was good for 14 and the fourth first down of the march but then the boys ran out of gas. On a delay, Hershberger was nailed for a five-yard loss by linebacker Bob Miller and Beiter was held for no gain before Rinehart took to the airlanes again.

The first went to Benjamin at the 25 but it looked like Ivory tried to run before he made the catch. On fourth down Rinehart twirled into the end zone and the throw was just a shade too far for Dick Brenner to reach.

Alliance was fired-up again. It was Johnson, then Wilson to the Tiger 43 before an end dropped a Zingg aerial in the clear at the 20. The host team went to the ground again and Wilson on two smashes gained 23 to the 20. Alliance stands were roaring but another Zingg pass was dropped and Johnson got only two and Wilson three. Then on fourth down Zingg couldn’t find a receiver in the open and ran to his right. Chet Brown got a firm grip on Zingg’s jersey, wouldn’t let go and Massillon took over at its own 13.

Chet and Ivory picked up a first down but in three more plays the Bengals gained nine and Hershberger punted. This time his kick sailed 53 yards and dead on the 10.

And man, the Aviators had Tiger fans on the edge of their seats once again.

That same pair, Johnson and Wilson, carried the mail to the 32 and after the next two plays made eight, a Zingg pass was dropped for the fourth time.
* * *
THEN EVERYBODY was expecting the Red and Blue to go for the first down. It was fourth and about a yard and a half at the 43 but the Aviators punted.

Giovanatto lofted one 38 yards to the Massillon 19 and the Tresselmen got sharp to apply the clincher.

Chet Brown twice wriggled loose for 12-yard pick-ups as the invaders moved to the Aviator 43 before Beiter came through with his 35-yard jaunt. Beiter cracked the middle and almost went the distance but was brought down from behind at the eight. A Rinehart toss was short but Benjamin skirted right-end, smartly cut away from a couple defenders, and went into the end zone standing up. Richardson’s placement at 1:02 made Massillonians real happy.

Childers had to kickoff three times after the field was cleared of fans who walked off with the goalposts. Massillon was offside on the first; the second went out of bounds. Then kicking from his own 35, the lanky flanker sent one clear down to the Alliance five. Johnson ran it out to the 27 and on the second play from scrimmage guard John Heimann intercepted a Zingg pass and two plays later the final gun sounded.

STATISTICS
Mass. Opp.
First downs rushing 12 10
First downs passing 1 0
First downs by penalties 0 0
Total first downs 13 10
Yards gained rushing 278 180
Yards lost rushing 22 7
Passes attempted 6 8
Passes completed 1 0
Passes had intercepted 0 1
Yards gained passing 14 0
Net yards gained 270 173
Times kicked off 3 1
Average kickoff return -5 16
Yards kickoff returned by -5 49
Times punted 4 5
Average punt (yards) 42.5 36
Yards punts returned by 0 9
Had punts blocked 0 0
Total fumbles 2 3
Times lost ball on fumbles 0 2
Penalties 5 2
Yards penalties 35 20

History

1955: Massillon 22, Alliance 6

September 30, 1955July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat Alliance 22-6
Aviators Give Bengals Rough Battle Before Going Down To Defeat

By LUTHER EMERY

If your hair is still standing on end today you were probably one of the Massillon fans included in the crowd of 13,258 who saw the Washington high Tigers defeat Alliance 22-6 at Tiger stadium Friday evening.

The locals won, and thereby avenged their lone loss of 1954, but it was a hair-raiser that could have gone the other way as many of the Massillon crowd feared it would when the Aviators began bombing the Tigers with passes.

The Massillon eleven scored a safety in the first period on a bad Alliance pass that rolled into the end zone, got a touchdown the same quarter on an 18-yard run by Halfback Charlie Brown, added another in the second on a 45-yard dash by Brown and scored their third in the fourth on a sneaker by Johnny James.
* * *
ALLIANCE scored its only touchdown in the third period on a straight shot over the line, Ted Davison to End Tom Schaefer.

But that only tells part of the story.

Alliance had its tough breaks when passes were dropped with possible touchdowns in sight, or when runners in the clear were hauled down by the Massillon secondary.

And the Tigers had their tough ones too with two long runs called back, one for a touchdown, because of rule infractions.

As expected, Mel Knowlton, who 23 years ago quarterbacked the Massillon Tigers, had his Alliance team all wired to give Massillon the shock of its life.

The Aviators came out fighting and went down the same way, and the Tigers knew they were in a ball game from the opening minute to the end.

Knowlton crossed up the Massillon coaching staff by playing an entirely different offensive game than what he had showed the previous week, and the time spent on preparing special defenses to meet the anticipated Alliance style of play was just wasted energy.
* * *
THE AVIATOR line, which we suspect weighed considerably more than we had been led to believe, gave the Tiger forward wall a rough time all evening and yielding ground stubbornly.

When the figures were added, Alliance gained the most yards and had the most first downs, but the Tigers had the points.

First downs were nine to eight in the Aviators’ favor and they gained 227 yards, 117 through passing, to Massillon’s 221. But they were also thrown for more losses, 65 to Massillon’s 12, which left the Tigers a net of 209 to Alliance’s 162.

Coach Tom Harp wasn’t too pleased with the performance of his team. He pointed out after the game that a team always has a couple of poor games during the season and he considered this a poor game as far as his team was concerned.

When you are playing against a bigger line as we were your timing must be perfect or they will push the ball right down your throat,” he said. “Our timing was not as good as it should have been. We have a lot of work to do and we are going to start in Monday to get it accomplished.”

Harp praised the passing of Davison and the pass snatching of the rangy Schaefer who was a head taller than most of the Massillon secondary.
* * *
THE MASSILLON gridders tried to hurry Davison and did succeed in spilling him for 34 yards in losses, but he completed six passes of the 16 he got away for a net gain of 116 yards. One pass was caught for a yard loss, and several were dropped that could have been caught.

The Tigers got only one pass away and that was intercepted by Alliance. Johnny James tried to throw a couple of others but was smeared in the attempt by the fast charging Alliance line.

Had Anderson Hawkins, Alliance halfback, the speed of a couple of Massillon’s backs he would have gotten away for two Alliance touchdowns. Twice he was ready to break for the goal when a Massillon tackler closed in and got him.

Alliance’s big hope of catching the Tigers, however, was dashed on the first play of the fourth quarter when Schaefer dropped a finger-tip pass on the 15-yard line which had he caught might have resulted in an Alliance touchdown. The score at the time was 15-6. The Tigers capitalized on the disappointment to roar back in five plays and score their third and final touchdown of the game.

Massillon got its first two points with five minutes and 32 seconds remaining in the first period when it had Alliance backed up to its own 15-yard line. Attillio Giovannatto dropped back to punt, got a bad pass from center and the ball rolled behind the goal. He and Dave Canary and a couple of other Tigers dove for the ball, but the former got it and was pinned by Canary for the safety. That gave the Tigers two points.
* * *
ALLIANCE had to kick off after the safety and Don Duke made a brilliant 40-yard return to the Alliance 27. The Tigers hammered to the 18 where Charlie Brown circled his left end for the score. He was liberated for the run by a fine block tossed by Guard Dick Roan on Alliance’s Hawkins. With Archibald plunging the extra point across, the score was 9-0, and that is where it stood until midway in the second period when Alliance punted to its own 45. Brown cut loose on a left end run and went the distance on the first play to make the total 15-0, Archibald missing a single wing plunge for the extra point.

Alliance began throwing after that and though it didn’t score showed enough to fans to prove there was dynamite in Davison’s arm.

The Tigers got themselves into a hole on the second half kickoff when they fumbled the ball near the end zone and then took time to run laterally on a possible handoff. They wound up on their own two. When three plays gained only that many yards they punted to their own 35 and the wound-up Aviators started their scoring drive.

Hawkins rammed it to a first down on the 23 in two attempts and he and Tim Johnson made another first on the 12. Hawkins was tossed for a two-yard loss but with the Tigers using an eight-man line and the three linebackers crowding the line of scrimmage, Davison wisely tossed a blooper over the line to Schaefer who had nothing to do but run across the goal with it.

There were still more than six minutes of the period remaining to be played.
* * *
THE TIGERS came back after the kickoff for two consecutive first downs but fumbled the ball to Alliance on the latter’s 40.

A nine-yard peg to Schaefer and a 16-yard dash by Hawkins got the ball to the 35. Hawkins got seven more, but Schaefer dropped a finger-tip pass from Davison with a possible touchdown in sight.

The Tigers took over and on the first play Brown took a lateral from James that the latter timed perfectly and went 51 yards before he was dumped on the 17. A five-yard penalty for being in motion failed to keep the locals from scoring, James twisting through for the point from the four-yard line. Duke went over for the extra point and that concluded the scoring.

Alliance wasn’t subdued, however. The Aviators tried hard to get the ball over again and succeeded in completing the most dramatic pass of the day, a 50-yard effort to Schaefer that took the ball to the Tiger 25. Schaefer was five yards in front of any Tiger when he caught the ball but Bob Cocklin, secondary defender, ran him down.

On the next play Davison was thrown for a 10-yard loss while still trying to pass and that ended the hostilities.
* * *
FOR THE TIGERS, the defensive play of Canary was one of the highlights of their performance. Brown was the outstanding ball carrier. He lugged the leather 10 times for 134 yards.

He had a sweet T.D. run of 58 yards called back late in the fourth quarter because of a clipping penalty. It was one of the fanciest bits of footwork of the evening.

Dave Archibald, the leading ground gainer last week, was stopped cold by Alliance who wouldn’t permit him to get away on his draw play. He only gained 17 yards in five attempts. Duke carried 16 times and gained 57 net yards, who Willie Long, the hot-shot of the first game only had two chances and finished up with a minus one yard

Hawkins was Alliance’s only threat on the ground. He gained 65 net yards on nine carries.

Next week the Tigers will play at Cincinnati Elder. They will leave Massillon Thursday, stay all night in Hamilton Thursday night; hold a brief workout Friday and continue on to Cincinnati where they will stay Friday night in the Gibson hotel. They will return to this city Saturday.

The lineup and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Canary, Houston, Welcher.
TACKLES – Graber, Maier, Schumacher, Kreiger, Whitfield, Hofacre.
GUARDS – Fisher, Roan, Kasunick, Tracy, Ertle.
CENTERS – Spicer, Dowd, Gentzler.
QUARTERBACK – James.
HALFBACKS – Duke, Brown, Long, Radtke, Herring, Washington, Cocklin, Butcher.
FULLBACK – Archibald.

ALLIANCE
ENDS – Polen, Schaefer, Giovannatto, Cowgill, Reynolds, Fryan.
TACKLES – Liber, Long, Tunelius.
GUARDS – McQuilken, Goosby, Welck.
CENTERS – Binkley, Miller.
QUARTERBACK – Davison.
HALFBACKS – Johnson, Bryant, Walker, Muniz, McCallum.
FULLBACKS – Hawkins.

Score by periods:
Massillon 9 6 0 7 22
Alliance 0 0 6 0 6

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Brown 2; James.
Alliance – Schaefer.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Archibald, Duke (carried).

Safety:
Massillon (Giovannatto thrown behind goal).

Officials
Referee – Smith (Elyria).
Umpire – Holzbach (Youngstown).
Head Linesman – Wisecup (Cleveland).
Field Judge – Beach (Youngstown).

STATISTICS
Mass. All.
First downs 8 9
Passes attempted 1 16
Passes completed 0 6
Had passes intercepted 1 1
Yards gained passing 0 117
Yards gained rushing 221 110
Total yards gained 221 227
Yards lost 12 65
Net yards gained 209 162
Times punted 4 5
Average punt (yards) 37 37
Yards punts returned by 45 9
Times kicked off 4 3
Average kickoff (yards) 46 44
Yards kickoffs returned by 17 29
Times fumbled 3 2
Lost ball on fumbles 1 0
Times penalized 5 2
Yards penalized 40 20

History

1954: Massillon 7, Alliance 19

October 1, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Alliance Ends Tiger Winning Streak
Aviators Triumph 19-7 To Break Massillon’s String of 25 Victories

By LUTHER EMERY

Mel Knowlton was king of Alliance today and his Aviators were flying high.

Before an overflow crowd of 11,000 fans that expected to see anything happen, the Alliance high school gridders cut Massillon’s 25-game winning streak in Mount Union stadium Friday night by handing the Washington high Tigers a 19-7 defeat.

Two well placed bombs did it.

They were thrown by veteran Quarterback Bill Offenbecher to receivers Frank Kracher and Bob Reda, who made virtually impossible catches as they took the ball out of the arms of Massillon defenders and fell inside the five-yard line.
* * *
IT TOOK all the might Alliance could muster from there on to score. Four downs to make one yard for the first one, three downs plus a penalty to the one-yard line to get the second. But it was enough. The Tigers were licked. The third T.D. coming when it did, didn’t matter.

It was an uphill game for Alliance because Massillon scored first on a 69-yard run by Homer Floyd with only five minutes gone in the first period.

And big Bob Williams made the lead 7-0 by kicking the extra point squarely between the uprights.

Alliance struck back with its first scoring effort in the last two minutes of the quarter after Offenbecher had passed 39 yards to Kracher for a first down on the one. Speedy Tom Barnett barely got over on fourth down to end a valiant Massillon goal line stand. Don Slusser, of the Aviators had his try for extra point blocked by End Jim Houston of Massillon.

And there the scored stood at 7-6 until four minutes had expired of the fourth period. Then again Offenbecher pitched and this time Reda caught the ball on the five-yard
line – a 35-yard pass. The Tigers appeared to have the Aviators grounded until they got too eager and drew an offside penalty that gave Alliance a first down on the one-yard line, Barnett went around right end to score, and Slusser kicked the extra point to put his team in front 13-7.

The Tigers couldn’t get past midfield after that and yielded the ball to Alliance on downs on the Massillon 42. The Aviators went all the way this time with Joel Plummer crossing up the local team as he raced 25 yards on a double reverse to score Alliance’s third touchdown.
* * *
THAT WAS IT. There were only four minutes left and everyone knew as they were being ticked off that the Tigers didn’t have a chance to catch up.

The final gun was a signal for one happy man.

He said he was waiting for this one, thought his team played well and thought the turning point of the game came in the early minutes of the third period when Alliance covered a Massillon fumble when the Tigers ahead 7-6, were driving for a second touchdown on the 12-yard line.
* * *
THE MASSILLON dressing room was the quietest it has been since the evening at Warren in 1951 when the Panthers handed the Tigers their last defeat prior to last night. Since then Massillon teams had won 25 games in a row, three at the end of the 1951 season, 10 each in 1952 and 1953 and two this season.

Now Alliance has ended the streak and as Coach Tom Harp told his players, ‘We will have to start all over.”

Harp complimented Alliance for having a good football team and the two pass snatchers, Kracker and Reda, for their efforts. “We had both of them pretty well covered,” he said, “but they came out with the ball. We lost to a good team.”

The Tiger coach didn’t like the fumble call on Floyd when Alliance was given the pigskin on its own 12, thus ending a Massillon scoring threat which had it succeeded might have changed the outcome. He felt the ball was down and that it should not have been ruled a fumble.

It was one of a series of breaks that went against the Tigers last night. They lost the ball four times on fumbles, had a pass intercepted and were penalized a couple of times when it hurt most.

But that is football and is not intended to take anything away from Alliance.

After all, the Tigers had reached the 12-yard line by recovering an Alliance fumble, on the 21, the only one made by the Aviators all night.
* * *
THE GENERAL run of the game was similar to the Alliance victory of 1948 with the Massillon team spurting and sputtering and the Aviators gaining momentum and playing their hearts out when they saw victory in sight.

The defeat was Harp’s first as a Massillon coach and he should not feel too badly about it because a couple of Massillon’s greatest coaches also suffered their first losses to Alliance, Paul Brown in 1932 and Chuck Mather in 1948. After that they became masters of the Aviators and were never beaten by them again.

Save for letting Alliance get away with the two long passes, the Tigers played a pretty good defensive game. They kept the reputable Alliance ball carriers bottled up most of the time and on only a couple of occasions did the Aviators break loose. The Tigers yielded only 67 net yards on the ground but gave away 79 in passing to give Alliance 146-net yards gained. The locals did a little better, largely the result of Floyd’s 69-yard run. They gained 145 net yards on the ground and 14 passing for 159 net yards.

First downs were six to six.

Actually the Tigers threatened but twice, the time they scored and the time they recovered the Alliance fumble and got to the 12 before fumbling themselves. Otherwise they were bottled up for the most part in their own back yard.
* * *
MOST FANS wondered about a Massillon play in the second period when the ball flew high in the air as it was centered. The center thought Alliance offside and passed it to get a five-yard penalty, but the officials thought differently.

Then there was a little rhubarb at the end of the second half when Alliance uncorked a screen pass that took the ball deep into Massillon territory. Time expired as the play was in motion and Massillon was offside on the play. The officials ruled that Alliance could either take the gain of some 50 yards or the five-yard penalty.

However, if it took the gain, the half would be over, but if it took the penalty it would be able to run one more play. So it took the penalty. Knowlton protested that he should have been given another play from the point of the gain.

The local team came out of the game in fairly good condition. Quarterback Rich Crescenze had a pair of black eyes and was ill and there were the usual bruises and bumps. None, however, appeared serious.

The squad ate in Canton on the trip home. Appetites aren’t as big when you lose and the food not as good, the players learned.

Briefly, here is a quick resume of the game:
FIRST QUARTER
Massillon won the toss and received. After an exchange of punts the Tigers got the ball on their 26. Floyd gained five yards and on third down raced 69 yards around his right end to score. Bob Williams kicked the extra point.
Massillon 7, Alliance 8.
Massillon kicked off to Alliance and the Aviators came all the way from their 37, getting a first down on the Massillon 41 and then the Offenbecher to Kracker pass for 39 yards and a first down on the one. Three times the Aviators crashed the Tiger line but were thrown back. On fourth down Barnett got over by inches. Slusser missed the attempted placekick.
Massillon 7, Alliance 6

SECOND QUARTER
After a kickoff and exchange of punts Massillon got into Alliance territory but, with a yard needed for first down, lost the ball on a play mix-up and Alliance took over on its 44. The Aviators w ere forced to punt and Alliance intercepted a Crescenze pass on the Tigers’ 20. The locals stopped the threat and took over on the 11. Neither team threatened anymore in the period.
THIRD PERIOD
Alliance fumbled on the second play after the kickoff and Floyd covered on the 21. In three plays Floyd was on the Alliance 12 when the officials ruled he was not down as he fumbled and Alliance took over. Alliance made one first down before it punted, and the Tigers came back over the midfield stripe with the ball only to lose it on a fumble on the Alliance 44.
FOURTH QUARTER
Alliance gambled for two yards on fourth down and got it on the Massillon 44. Then came the Offenbecher to Reda pass that gained a first on the five. Plummer hit once for a yard, tried again and got another yard but Alliance was offside and penalized back to the nine. Plummer gained three. On the next play the Tigers were offside and Alliance was given the ball on the one. This time Barnett made it around right end. Slusser kicked the extra point and Alliance went to the front 13-7.

Eight minutes remained to be played. The Tigers brought the kickoff back to their 31 and Floyd got up to a first down on his 43. There the attack fizzled as a recovered fumble lost two yards. Boekel failed to gain, a pass was grounded and an attempt to carry on fourth down fell short. Alliance took over on the Massillon 42, worked it to the 25 and Plummer went the rest of the way on a double reverse. Slusser missed the try for point.
Alliance 19, Massillon 7
Massillon made one first down after the kickoff on a screen pass to Floyd that took the ball to the Tiger 38, but a pitch-out went wide and lost eight yards and the locals wound up punting to Alliance. The game ended after one play.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Canary, Lorch, Williams, Houston, Jones, Francisco.
TACKLES – R. Williams, Hill, Moore, Schumacher.
GUARDS – Holloway, R. Maier, Tracy, Fisher.
CENTERS – Spicer, Morrow, Roan.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, James.
HALFBACKS – Fromholtz, Floyd, Stavroff, Brown, Duke, Stephens, Yoder.
FULLBACKS – Boekel, Archibald.

STATISTICS
Mass. All.
First downs 6 6
Passes attempted 7 6
Passes completed 1 3
Had passes intercepted 1 0
Yards gained passing 14 79
Yards gained rushing 162 83
Total yards gained 176 162
Yards lost 17 16
Net yards gained 159 146
Times punted 4 4
Average punt (yards) 40 32
Yards punts returned by 0 22
Times kicked off 2 4
Average kickoff (yards) 38 47
Yards kickoffs returned by 62 10
Lost ball on fumbles 4 1
Times penalized 4 5
Times fumbled 5 1
Yards penalized 30 35

History

1953: Massillon 33, Alliance 7

October 16, 1953July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

13,036 See Tigers Beat Alliance 33-7
Orange And Black Roll Up Winning Margin In First Half Of Contest

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high school football team sputtered Friday night but still had enough to chalk up its fifth win of the season at the expense of a fighting Alliance high eleven before a crowd of 13,036 fans, largest turnout of the season.

The victory was the Tigers’ 18th in a row since they last tasted defeat in Warren in October, 1951.

The margin of victory was gained in the first half when the Tigers scored two touchdowns in each of the first and second quarters; scoring in the second half was equal, seven points for each teams.

The Massillon score might have been larger save for a pass interception on the goal line and several clipping penalties that helped throttle possible drives for points.

The fact remained, however, that the Tigers were not sharp and were up against a spirited Alliance team that was scrapping with all it had.
* * *
THE TIGHTENING of the struggle in the second half was also revealed in the number of substitutions by Massillon Coach Chuck Mather. Where he had been using 40 or more players in previous games he used but 30 last night.

Likewise, it was the first time this season that the Tigers gained more yards passing than they made running the ball. They gained 205 yards and scored two touchdowns through the completion of five passes, while making 190 on the ground. Alliance completed only two of nine passes for 55 yards, one of which set up its only touchdown. It gained 148 yards on the ground. First downs were 15-11 in the Tigers’ favor.

While the game lacked some of the luster of previous Massillon-Alliance contests, it produced a lot of thrills for the spectators.

The biggest sensation was spoiled by a clipping penalty which took away yards but not the brilliance from a second period run by Johnny Traylor.

With the ball on the Massillon 22, the fleet Tiger halfback had set out around his left end only to find himself confronted by a swarm of enemy interceptors as he went three yards past the line of scrimmage. So he reversed his field, ran backward some 15 yards in a wide arc while his blocking began forming in front of him. Then Johnny sped forward along the sideline. His teammates began cutting down Alliance tacklers, as he went all the way to the 10 where he ran out of steam and was pulled down from behind. Clipping was called on the Alliance 41 and the Tigers were penalized 15 yards back to their own 44.
* * *
TWO PLAYS LATER, more of the fancy stuff was produced. Rich Crescenze fired a long pass that Tom Boone made a great catch of on the Alliance 20. Two Alliance tacklers closed in on him and Boone lost his helmet in the fight for liberation. While an Alliance player dove for it, thinking it to be the ball, Tom went the remaining 20 yards for a touchdown. There was a 32-yard razzle dazzle to Bill Stone for a touchdown that did not count in the last minute of the half, because of a penalty, and there was a pitch to Johnny Traylor good for 54 yards and the Tigers’ only touchdown in the second half.

Francisco and Traylor each scored two touchdowns, and Rujay Jones got Alliance’s only one, though it was made possible by a long pass, Bill Offenbecher to Chester Kirksey, good for 33 yards that put the ball on the one yard line. He was tossed out in the coffin corner after it looked as though he would go over.

In Jones Alliance displayed a hard-running sophomore fullback who got away for several long gains despite the fact that he was pretty well bottled up by a hard charging Massillon line that messed up the Alliance offense much of the time.

In fact, Offenbecher usually had little time to pass the ball for someone was reaching out to haul him down most all the time. Alliance lost as many yards as it gained trying to pass.
* * *
THE LINE also hurried Orlando Giovanatto so much in the first half that he had little time to punt. One was blocked and another only went 13 yards.

The Tigers punted but once, and that one went over the Alliance goal.
* * *
IT LOOKED like a scoreless first period before the Tigers began to roll, and only a minute and 31 seconds remained of the quarter when John Francisco went over from the four-yard line for the first points. The drive started in midfield with a 42-yard pass, Crescenze to Homer Floyd putting the ball in scoring position.

Interception of an Alliance pass by Bill Stone on the Aviators’ 42 made it possible to score on the first play of the second quarter. Francisco carried to the five-yard line on the last play of the first period and then went over as the second period got under way.

A blocked punt that gained Massillon the ball on the Alliance 40 was the starting point for the third T.D. A 24-yard pass from Crescenze to Jim Letcavits got the ball into scoring territory and after Francisco had narrowed the distance by six yards, Traylor circled his left end for the points.

Boone’s catch of a touchdown pass, already described, was the fourth and last T.D. of the half. The locals lost a fifth in the late minutes of the period when a 52-yarder from Crescenze to Stone took the bal into the end zone only to be called back because of a penalty on the Tigers.
* * *
ALLIANCE was first to score in the second half, though the Tigers were down to the
eight –yard line when an intercepted pass ended their drive.

Alliance came right back after the interception to drive the length of the field. Hard running by Jones produced first downs on the 48 and 36 and after Jones moved the ball up to the 33, Offenbecher passed to Kirksey who got within a foot of the goal before he was thrown out of bounds, Jones went over.

The Tigers took the kickoff on their 46 and in two plays had another T.D. of their own. Traylor failed to gain and Crescenze let fly to Traylor who outran the Alliance secondary to score. The play covered 54 yards.

The Tigers emerged from the game in good condition and Mather was glade to get it over with. “You always fear this kind of game,” he said after the contest. “The boys got the idea from fans that they have an easy touch and then go out to meet a fired-up opponent. That’s when they often get hurt.”

Most serious casualty last night appeared to be Boone who has been coming along fast in just about every department the last couple of weeks. He sustained a bruised hip that hurt him considerably after the game.

Sophomore members of the team didn’t get much rest last night. They had to report at 7:30 this morning for a trip to Mansfield where they play the Mansfield sophs today.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Boone, Letcavits, Lentz, Lorch.
TACKLES – Schram, Dean, Woolley, Hill.
GUARDS – Eaglowski, Agnes, Shilling, Gardner, Holloway, Maier, Williams.
CENTERS – Fisher, Grant.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Grant.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Duke, Byrd, Longshore, Fromholtz.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Johnson, Stone, Boekel, Speck.

ALLIANCE
ENDS – Kirksey, Coldsnow, Giovanatta, Hariston.
TACKLES – Pucci, Egan, Kracher, Liber.
GUARDS – Thomas, Menechelli, Milovich, Peloso, Slusser, Giase.
CENTERS – Dietz, Adams.
QUARTERBACK – Offenbecher.
HALFBACKS – Plummer, Barnett, Wright, Long, Hawkins, Howard.
FULLBACK – Jones.

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 19 7 0 33
Alliance 0 0 7 0 7

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Francisco 2; Traylor 2; Boone.
Alliance – Jones

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 3 (placekick).
Alliance – Slusser (placekick).

Officials
Referee – A.N. Smith (Elyria).
Umpire – John Holzback (Youngstown).
Head Linesman – Andy Lindsay (Poland).
Field Judge – A.C. Grant (Loudonville).

STATISTICS
Mass. Alliance
First downs 15 11
Passes attempted 16 9
Passes completed 5 2
Had passes intercepted 8 1
Yards gained passing 205 55
Yards gained rushing 190 148
Total yards gained 395 203
Yards lost 3 55
Net yards gained 287 148
Times kicked off 5 2
Average kickoffs (yards) 40 37
Yards kickoffs returned by 31 85
Times punted 1 7
Average punt (yards) 16 26
Yards punts returned by 3 0
Times fumbled 2 3
Lost ball on fumbles 1 1
Times penalized 9 4
Yards penalized 75 35

History

1952: Massillon 27, Alliance 21

October 10, 1952July 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

11,000 See Tigers Defeat Alliance 27-21
Massillon Gridders Win Dizzy Game From State’s Seventh Ranking Eleven

By LUTHER EMERY

If you are dizzy today you must have been one of the 11,000 fans who saw a dizzy football game Friday evening in Mt. Union stadium, in which the Washington high Tigers shaded the Alliance Aviators 27-21 in a thrilling game that had everything including:

Two consecutive kickoff returns for touchdowns, one the season’s longest run, 104 yards by John Francisco, the other a 77-yard effort by Lee Nussbaum.

Two passers completing 50 per cent of their tosses.

The losing team making 16 first downs to the winner’s 11 and gaining exactly the same net yardage from scrimmage.

It was a thriller-diller of a contest with Alliance playing inspired ball, throwing and completing passes all over the gridiron to control the leather, but never able to regain the lead after dropping it in the second period.
* * *
THE AVIATOR fans were so jubilant after the contest that they did much of the horn blowing. Most of them expected to see their team beaten by three touchdowns, and were happy that they had been treated to as close a score.

Coach Chuck Mather and his Massillon crew, on the other hand, were not so happy. Remembering a couple of fumbles and intercepted passes that gave the ball back to the Aviators, they seemed to think they had not played a particularly good game. But in their disappointment at not having rolled up a larger score they apparently forgot that they were playing the No. 7 team in the state and one that we believe deserves an even higher ranking. Futhermore, the Aviators had six regulars back for their offensive team; the Tigers none.

Rarely will you see a team return two consecutive kickoffs for touchdowns and yet only win by six points. That’s the kind of dizzy game it was, and that’s why the Tigers are still undefeated today.

Thus Francisco and Nussbaum emerged the heroes of the contest, but only because they had some excellent blocking in front of them.
* * *
JOHN in particular received able support. The Tigers were leading 14-7 when they lined up for the kickoff at the start of the second half. Burwell Baddelely’s kick bounced on the 15 and over the arms of Francisco when he tried to take it. Most people thought it hit John, and thought that was the reason why he picked up the ball then hesitated four yards behind the goal, before running with it.

“I was just trying to decide what to do,” said John, when asked after the game the reason for the temporary pause.

Maybe the pause threw the Aviators off guard, but whatever it was, Johnny ran right out through them while his blockers chopped down tacklers. One Tiger peeled off three at a time. We combed the locker room after the game, but none took credit. John Tasseff got one tackler, Andy Fabianich two, and Sam Williams cut down two as Francisco bolted out of the end zone and headed up field.

Bill Burger of Alliance took after him at the 30 but neither Francisco could gain nor Burger close the gap in the race for the goal line. A Tiger blocker had in mind throwing a block on Burger at midfield, but did not have good position and surely would have clipped had he attempted it. Francisco with a five-yard lead outdistanced his pursuer the last 15 yards and could hardly stand up from exhaustion after he got into the end zone.
* * *
THE TOUCHDOWN would have caused many an opponent to have blown sky high, but not Alliance, for the Aviators were waiting for this game and it wasn’t long before they had another touchdown for themselves on a well aimed 28-yard pass from strong-armed Len Dawson to End Ray Olds.

That brought the Aviators up to within striking distance again, 20-14, but only for a moment, for next time they kicked off, Nussbaum gathered in the leather on the 23 and went 77 yards to score. He was through the whole Alliance team in a jiffy, and there was never any doubt once he got going that he would out run’em all.

Touchdowns on consecutive kickoffs!

We haven’t heard of that in a long time, but it still didn’t kill off Alliance. The Aviators had a great passing weapon in Dawson and some smart receivers and they just kept throwing until three completions took the ball to the eight from which the Aviators hammered it over with Dawson sneaking through from his quarterback spot for the last six inches.
* * *
TIGER FANS were mighty happy Alliance didn’t get the ball anymore, and to keep them from it the locals had to make a desperate play on fourth down with seven to go to control the leather. They succeeded and were marching toward the Alliance goal for what might have been another T.D. when the game came to an end.

That accounts for the second half scoring.

What went on to the first half was almost as startling except that it was at the beginning instead of toward the end of the game.

Alliance, after recovering a Massillon fumble on the Massillon 29, was first to score. A
24-yard pass, Dawson to Olds produced it, the latter going up in the air to take the ball right out of the arms of a Massillon defender in the end zone.

An Alliance fumble, covered by Ronnie Agnes on the Tiger 48, was the start of the local team’s first touchdown drive which was scored principally through the Alliance specialty – forward pass. Bob Misere began pitching and hit Capt. Bob Khoenle twice for 27 yards and 14 yards. That got the ball down to the 11 where Traylor shot around his left end for the points. Tom Boone’s kick tied it up 7-7.
* * *
THE NEXT ONE came cheap for the Tigers, thanks to their defensive unit. They got to breaking through on Dawson, tossed him for a couple of losses and when he dropped back close to his goal line he was rushed so badly he was unable to get the ball away.

The Tigers took over on the two but were forced back to the six when Misere couldn’t find anyone to hand off to. He hit Khoenle, however, with a pretty jump pass over center that Bob took in the end zone for six points. Boone made it 14.

It appeared as though that Tigers had the Aviators at the breaking point when they marched down to the Alliance 16 next time they got the ball, but they lost it there on a first down fumble and the Aviators took over.

It wasn’t difficult to pick out the Alliance star. Dawson was the individual. Not only did he complete 16 of 32 passes for 220 yards, but he also punted, kicked the three extra points, passed for two of the touchdowns, scored the third himself and kicked off part of the time. Without him Alliance would not have too much armor. The Aviators appear only to be able to run because of Dawson’s threat as a passer. They have a hard-hitting back in Homer Young, who did most of the ground work, scoring principally on a short pitch on an end sweep.
* * *
DAWSON was not at his best physically for the game either. He injured his left shoulder last week which kept him out of practice the first two days of the week according to Alliance newspapermen.

While Misere of the Tigers did not throw nearly as passes, he had the same percentage of completions. In fact, Bob had the better of it the first half when he completed four of six while Dawson was completing seven of 12.

The Tigers tried only two passes the second half, and did not complete either. One was intercepted.

Yardage of the two teams was the same, the Massillon statistician showing both teams with a net 234.

The Aviators actually gained the most, 334, but they also lost 100 when Tiger tacklers broke through to smear Dawson while attempting to pass or to nail Young on pitchouts.

The local team made 179 yards on the ground and 69 through the air for a total of 248, but only lost 14 from scrimmage, giving the same net gain from scrimmage as Alliance 234 yards.

The Tigers ran 22 plays from scrimmage the second half. You don’t run a lot of plays and gain a lot of yardage from scrimmage when you return kickoffs for touchdowns. However, if you add the kickoff returns to yards gained from scrimmage you have 429 for the Tigers to 303 for Alliance. After all, that yardage represents the difference.

The Tigers emerged from the game in fairly good condition with the exception of Traylor, who aggravated a leg injury.

The play of the Alliance team was a fine tribute to Mel Knowlton, native Massillonian and former junior high and high school coach here, and Julius Tongas, another Massillon man and assistant to Mel.

Mel really had his team riding high for the contest. It was the third straight week the Tigers have been called upon to face a team in which a former Massillon man was a member of the coaching staff.

Two weeks ago the Tigers played Steubenville coached by Ray Hoyman, ex-Massilonian. Last week they played Barberton where Fred Cardinal, ex-Massillonian, helps out. Next week they meet Mansfield where Bill Peterson, another ex-Massillon assistant coach, is head mentor.

The line-ups and summary:

MASSILLON
ENDS – Crone, Khoenle, Williams, Letcavits.
TACKLES – Schram, Geiser, Younkers, Dean.
GUARDS – Clinage, Kraus, Fabianich, Agnes.
CENTER – Corral.
QUARTERBACK – Misere.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Tasseff. Climo, Boone.
FULLBACKS – Nussbaum, Stewart.

ALLIANCE
ENDS – Aton, Olds, Giovanatto.
TACKLES – Galehouse, Fucci, Kracker, Deack, Jones.
GUARDS – Stanish, Stranges, Tasker, Zavarelli.
CENTER – Feller.
QUARTERBACK – Dawson.
HALFBACKS – Burger, Davis, Baddeley, Hawkins, Boring.
FULLBACK – Young.

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 7 13 0 27
Alliance 7 0 7 7 21

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Traylor; Khoenle; Francisco; Nussbaum.
Alliance – Olds 2; Dawson.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 3 (placements).
Alliance – Dawson 3 (placement).

Referee – Tobin.
Umpire – Russ.
Head Linesman – Lindsay.
Field Judge – Holzbach.

STATISTICS
Mass. All.
First downs 11 16
Passes attempted 8 32
Passes completed 4 16
Had passes intercepted 2 0
Yards gained passing 69 220
Yards gained rushing 179 114
Total yards gained 249 334
Yards lost 14 100
Net yards gained 234 234
Kickoffs 5 4
Average kickoff (yards) 47 43
Yards kickoffs returned 195 69
Punts 2 4
Average punt (yards) 15 32
Yards punts returned 0 0
Fumbles 2 3
Lost ball on fumbles 2 1
Times penalized 6 5
Yards penalized 40 32

Tag: <span>Alliance</span>